This week was all about final prep for the trip. Vero has a fantastic, free bus system, and on Saturday we headed over to Target and Lowes to get some school supplies to bring to donate in the islands, and we needed ratchet straps and a heat gun. It took longer than we’d hoped, but it was good to get that out of the way.
We ordered some spares for the boat and I got more of Jack’s special food (we found out in Charleston that he’s in the early stages of kidney disease… I didn’t mention it because I was absolutely beside myself – Jack’s been my best bud for 14+ years. His vet recommended prescription food, so I wanted to be sure I wouldn’t run out), and we were able to get our propane filled and get a final pump-out.
Chris took today off and we rented a car so we could get our Covid tests, provision, take Jack to the vet for his health certificate, and try to find 1lb. propane cylinders. Trying to find a Covid test was a nightmare, and when we first stopped into the walk-in clinic, there was a 3 hour wait. You had to wait in your car, and you weren’t allowed to leave, so we decided to try again later so we didn’t miss Jack’s appointment. Instead, we did a lightning round of provisioning and got back to the boat just in time to put things away and get Jack into his carrier. His appointment went well (although he growled something fierce at the vet) and we were able to get all the necessary paperwork. He actually seemed to like the dinghy ride, and his little nose was working overtime as he sniffed the world. We dropped him off, went back to the walk-in clinic, and this time we only had an hour wait – within 15 minutes, we had documentation of our negative tests. We hopped across the street and made copies of all our important documents, and I managed to find 1lb. propane cylinders in stock at the GIGANTIC WalMart. I felt bad sending Chris in there 2 days before Christmas, but he also found a few other little things we’d been looking for, so it was worth the madness.
Earlier in the day, we ran into a couple we’d met earlier in the week, and they invited us to join them for drinks on their Catalina 42 mkII. Somehow we managed to get everything done in time be only fashionably late. The 42 mkII is one of the boats on our short list for future consideration, and we were really excited to get to tour one. It’s a gorgeous boat, and it ticks a lot of the boxes for things I want when we eventually move up. We really enjoyed chatting, and once again I found myself being glad for saying “yes” to unexpected plans.
While we had been out getting our Covid tests done, the Bahamian government announced new regulations for travel – Covid tests needed to be taken within 3 days of departure rather than 5, but the were grandfathering everyone who had an approved health visa through today. We submitted our applications as soon as we got back from being tested, but we were worried we wouldn’t get approval in time. When we checked in the first time, we were still pending, but the green “approved” dot just showed up, so now all we need is to hope for good weather!
3 replies on “Staging”
We really enjoyed getting to know you two and are so excited that you had the opportunity to go to the Bahamas!
[…] with the same decisions and experienced some of the challenges of changing regulations (see my staging post). But I’m glad we’re here and able to help put a little into the local […]
So excited for you two